State Board of Education moves quickly to release
Adequate Yearly Progress status to schoolsReports issued months earlier than in
previous years

Springfield, Ill.  The Illinois State Board of
Education (ISBE) has released Adequate Yearly Progress
(AYP) School Status Reports to 1,738 Illinois schools
and 289 districts. ISBE issued the reports based on spring
2005 testing results following a data correction and approval
window. This years reports are being released months
earlier than in any previous year.

When Governor Blagojevich appointed seven new members
to the State Board in September of 2004, one of his top
charges to the group was to address the persistent delays
and inaccuracies in providing data to local schools and
districts. The new State Board addressed this issue
as one of its first initiatives to help schools, students
and parents.

We know that in the past, the timeliness and accuracy
of these reports has been a big problem for schools,
said State Board Chairman Jesse Ruiz. When
the Governor called on us to help schools in Illinois,
this is one of the issues he was talking about. Knowing
how important it is for schools to have this information
as early as possible, we made this a top priority.

ISBE did not issue AYP School Status Reports for Spring
2004 testing until November of 2004. Accurate reports
based on spring 2003 testing were not released until June
of 2004. The extreme delay caused serious difficulties
for schools and districts whose School Improvement Status
required them to communicate the option of School Choice
and Supplemental Education Services (SES) to parents.

I congratulate the State Board on its success in
getting timely, accurate information to schools,
said Gov. Blagojevich. When I named the new
Board last fall, I made it clear that it needed to fix
the agencys practice of issuing late, inaccurate
reports. I applaud the Boards work to eliminate
a chronic problem that had caused schools difficulties
for years.

In addition to getting the AYP School Status Reports out
to schools more quickly, the State Board is helping districts
and schools that must offer School Choice and SES by providing
sample letters to send to parents.

Schools need reports that are on time and correct.
Our staff has worked closely with schools and districts
to get accurate information into their hands as soon as
possible this year, said Randy Dunn, State Superintendent.
We know that schools need time to communicate with
parents before the start of a new school year. Speeding
up our data collection and review process has helped them
do that.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires all states
to measure each public school's and district's achievement
and establish annual achievement targets for the state.
The overarching goal is for all students to meet or exceed
standards in reading and mathematics by 2014.

Each year, the state calculates a school or district's
Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) to determine if students
are improving their performance based on the established
annual targets. Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) calculations
in Illinois are based on three factors:

the percent of reading and math scores that meet
or exceed standards, compared to the 2005 state target
of 47.5 percent for the aggregate and a 95 percent confidence
interval for subgroup performance;

the participation rate of students in taking the
state tests, which must meet or exceed 95 percent; and

the attendance rates of students in elementary and
middle schools, and the graduation rates of students
in high schools, which must meet or exceed the state's
2005 targets of 89 percent elementary and middle school
attendance rate and 67 percent high school graduation
rate.

Illinois State Board of Education
100 North First Street
Springfield, IL 62777